Search

Hello again! Apologies for the recent winter hiatus, and for all you fellow DC residents- Happy Snow Day! On days like these I get to work from home, which simultaneously enables me to spend my lunch break in my own kitchen. A perfect use of this lucky situation of mine is a marinade… I can mix it up in the morning, let it sit all day, and it will be ready by the work day’s end! I’ve come across many a steak marinade recipe on different food blogs and in various food magazines and cookbooks. I decided to whip up one of my own, hopefully following my self-declared “culinary instincts”. I chose an oil base, the typical salt and pepper (but more delicious versions), herbs, and some spice. Below are Trader Joe’s lemon pepper, rosemary, black truffle sea salt, thyme, and crushed red pepper flakes. Not pictured is garlic, which is a definite must. Mix together in a bowl of olive oil to taste. Put your steak tips (or any red meat/chicken) in a plastic bag. Dump in the marinade, thoroughly massage with the steak, and seal. Put in the refrigerator for 4-6 hours. Toss in a pan with some butter to sear both sides. After searing each side for roughly 2 minutes, finish in the oven (set to 350) for 10 minutes or until cooked to desired temperature. And now, what to pair it with?! I suggest one of my bestie’s go-to recipes- baked sriracha cauliflower! Break up cauliflower florets and place in baking pan. Add a can of chickpeas, drained. Combine sriracha, olive oil and white wine vinegar in a bowl. Drizzle the sriracha mixture into pan and thoroughly coat the cauliflower and chickpeas. When asked for specifications, my lovely friend stated verbatim “Umm I eyeball it. Most olive oil. Splash of vinegar. Hot to taste. (I like it hot hot hot). Bake 400 degrees for 40 minutes tossing once.” Welp, there ya go! Apologies for not having a finished picture of the meal, but just imagine how yummy it is 🙂

Advertisements

Share this:

Like this:

So as I noted in my previous post, August is birthday month!! I turn the ominous 25, and my roommate bestie turns the mature 26. To ease the potentially anxiety-ridden stage of my quarterlife crisis, I have decided that August is going to be treat yo’self month. I am going to be good to myself, mind, body, and soul. Plus I want to look kickass in my birthday outfit, obviously. As a kickoff, I made a delicious carb-free dinner chalk full of protein and veggies. The marinated lamb is a give-in favorite of mine, and I tricked my body into thinking it was consuming creamy mashed potatoes when in fact it was crazy-good mashed cauliflower! Tehe I’m so sneaky.

You can Google a decent Mashed Cauliflower recipe, but after making several variations, running out of ingredients, and having different flavor profiles, I think I’ve settled on my own fave version. You’ll need:

Head of cauliflower

Two cloves of garlic

Olive oil

Low fat veggie cream cheese

Grated Parmesan cheese

Green onions or chives (optional)

Put a big pot of water on the stove to boil. While it heats up, break up the cauliflower into smaller sections. You can basically just tear off the little trees one by one, like so:

Once the water is boiling, put in cauliflower for 5-7 minutes or until soft. In the meantime, start cooking up your pre-marinated lamb. I had to go to Whole Foods to get my fix, but the lamb is super reasonably priced (proof below)

TWO for $10. Definitely beats the $28 that a restaurant would charge for an equally delectable lamb dish. Buy the pre-marinated version to save yourself some time and money. Throw into a pan that’s on high heat, coated with cooking spray and some melted butter.

The butter will sear the lamb, sealing all the flavor into the meat. Normally I would grill these, but alas, we have run out of propane. Be careful when you’re cooking in the pan, as the lamb can go from bloody to medium in a matter of minutes if left unsupervised. It’s also super steamy so turn on your microwave fan or open a window. Cook about five minutes on each side, and cut open to gauge the temperature. Reduce heat if necessary. If the meat is right on the brink of your desired done-ness, remove from heat immediately and cover with a lid, as the lamb will continue to cook internally for a few minutes. Another option is to pan sear for a few minutes on each side, and then bake in the oven for the remainder.

Remember that while this is going on, you need to put your cauliflower into a food processor with the rest of the ingredients. I would do this while the lamb’s first side is cooking. Pile in the cauliflower with two garlic cloves (chopped), a heaping spoonful of the cream cheese, two tablespoons of Parmesan cheese, a tablespoon of olive oil, and your green onions/chives if you decided to go that route.

Blend until smooth, tasting along the way and adding more of any ingredient. Hint: more cream cheese makes them more creamy!

Try not to let this process interfere with monitoring the lamb. When lamb is done, scoop the mashed cauliflower onto your plate and sprinkle additional Parmesan cheese and some oregano for added flavah.

Done! And if you didn’t share, you’ll have plenty of leftovers. The mashed cauliflower keeps surprisingly well for a day or two. Enjoy!